Mix Valentines day up with a blind date...with a book

CORRALES — When someone says they’ve found you a blind date, it usually makes you groan with dread. But what if the blind date was with a book instead?

Laurie Rivera, from Corrales Library, is putting on a small event that sets people up on a blind date with a book through Valentine’s Day. There will then be a prize drawing for participants Feb. 17.

“I’m not the first to have done it in this library. I’ve been doing it for the last four years, and it’s an idea that several libraries across the country have come up with, and I’ve taken it to a little bit more extreme than several people,” Rivera said.

This time around she has selected books in the mystery and fiction genres that are mostly Valentine’s themed.

“I try to keep it a little around Valentine’s Day and romantic, but I like to throw in some dark horses as well. Some nonfiction, some poetry, just things, angst, and they don’t know what they’re getting,” she said.

At the end of the reading, people “rate their date” by filling out a small survey. Similar to a blind date program, it gives options as to how good or bad the book was.

“The Worst, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. If I ran into this book again, IT WOULD BE SO AWKWARD!” reads the worst category.

Other ratings joke that the person wants to finish their date with the book or “text and see what happens next,” like any date a person would go on with another human being.

Rivera says this adding the humor is her way of making the experience fun.

The survey’s best rating gives the reader a chance to request similar books to the one they just read. Rivera says this helps the library stock up on favorite genres.

Of course, there is a possibility the person gets a book they’ve already read.

She added that she tries to mix it up by throwing in old classics like “Pride and Prejudice” or “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” both considered romantic books.

“So maybe somebody read it years ago,” she said.

Rivera also tries to put in some New Mexico authors and variations or modern of classics like “Pride and Prejudice Zombies.”

People don’t always like the book they get. Last year, for example, she wrapped some cookbooks and a lactose intolerant person got an ice cream making cook book. However, that didn’t stop them from leaving a funny comment on the survey and winning a prize anyway.

“It was just so funny what they said about it that I got them a special prize. I got them some chocolate that had no dairy in it,” Rivera said with a laugh.

If the incentive isn’t to just read a book they’ve never read; people get excited about the potential prizes. Rivera keeps the prizes local.

“Then I draw (the survey) for a prize basket, and I have really good stuff in that basket — all the Corrales merchants,” she said.

This year prizes include wine from the local Milagro Vineyard, coffee from The Farm Stand, pottery from Sage Valley Pottery and more. So even if they don’t like the book, there is a reward for their efforts.

“If they fill (the survey) out and they put their information, they’re going to be in a drawing. So even if they start to read it and they can’t stand it, that’s fine, that’s absolutely fine,” she said.

“It’s just a fun thing to do and it gets you out of of your usual thing, how you would pick a book, which is often by its cover. This is wrapped and you can’t see the cover,” Rivera said.

She added that if people are interested they should come get a book as soon as possible.

“They go fast,” she said.